Summary of the previous chapter: Zhu Youxiao told the truth. It turned out that everything was planned by him and King Xin...
The officials who had been fined all had pale faces, but no one dared to say anything. The fine was already considered light. If they spoke more, they might not even be able to keep their black gauze hats on their heads.
"Your Majesty... I don't have any money with me. Can I pay it later?" An unsigned official complained without giving up.
Zhu Youxiao shook his head: "It must be paid now. You people seem to be sanctimonious, but in fact you have made a lot of money. Well, you all go down and have people send the money. Now, immediately, I will give you half an hour to pay it."
Those who don’t make it will be doubled!”
"Wei Chen...Wei Chen obeys the order!"
"Well, those who signed just now should also pay the fine. I will send someone to notify you of the subsequent punishment."
All the officials looked at each other and had no choice but to lower their heads and "thank you."
...
Brother Zhang Yi and Zhang Jing were trembling on their knees. If possible, they would rather faint right now.
The brother and sister felt regret and hatred in their hearts. They thought they could put Ma Xiaoquan to death today, but they didn't expect that everything behind the scenes was planned by the emperor himself. This... How can this be so embarrassing?
"You two, come here." Zhu Youxiao hooked his fingers at the Zhang brothers and sisters. The two brothers hurriedly knelt and crawled in front of Zhu Youxiao. Just as they were about to step forward again, Ma Xiaoquan stretched out his hand to stop them and blocked them with one foot.
The person was kicked to the ground.
"Your Majesty is the most noble and has a body of ten thousand gold. You two lowly commoners want to get close to your Majesty. You are so presumptuous!" Ma Xiaoquan scolded the Zhang brothers and sisters.
"Ma Xiaoquan, you" Zhang Jing raised her head, pointed at Ma Xiaoquan and was about to speak, when she heard a "pop" and Ma Xiaoquan's slap had already hit her face.
Suddenly, five finger prints appeared on Zhang Jing's pretty face.
"You bastards from the East and West are just ordinary people. You dare to call me by my name. I'm going to fight you!" Ma Xiaoquan said proudly.
Zhang Jing covered the side of her face that had been beaten, tears welling up in her eyes. At this moment, no matter how much hatred she felt in her heart, she did not dare to say anything more.
Zhu Youxiao hummed and asked: "You two, tell me, who ordered you to come?"
The two brothers and sisters looked at each other, and then turned their attention to Lu Zhan, who was standing beside them.
Lu Zhan became excited and cursed: "You are so bold and cunning, how dare you slander me. When did I leak the news to you?"
Ma Xiaoquan smiled and interjected: "Master Lu, the emperor asked who instigated it, but you answered that he leaked the information. Tsk tsk tsk, Lord Lu, that Zhang Jing is almost your grandson-in-law of the Lu family, so you should treat it like this
Your granddaughter-in-law, tsk tsk tsk..." Ma Xiaoquan said while shaking his head, with an expression that really deserves a beating.
"Ma Xiaoquan, don't be slanderous. Although Zhang Jing is my grandson-in-law of the Lu family, she has made mistakes and will be punished. Of course, it was not done by me, Lu Zhan, and I will never bear the responsibility for them."
Ma Xiaoquan clicked his tongue and said, "Master Lu, are you sure?"
"Humph, Ma Xiaoquan, what do you want?"
Ma Xiaoquan smiled slightly, reached out and patted Zhang Yi on the shoulder, and said: "Master Zhang, tell the truth, I know you want to frame me, but this news of yours is not groundless. Say it, say it, your Majesty.
I'll give you some tolerance."
Zhang Yi was really depressed. Originally, framing Ma Xiaoquan had nothing to do with Lu Zhanzhen, but Ma Xiaoquan insisted on getting them involved together. Wasn't it clear that he wanted to frame Master Lu himself?
"Master Deacon, I..." Zhang Yi did not dare to say.
"Huh?" Ma Xiaoquan squeezed Zhang Yi's shoulder with a little force and made two clicks.
Zhang Yi didn't dare to bite, so he had to grit his teeth and endure it.
Ma Xiaoquan chuckled, let go of his hand, turned around and cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, a humble minister speaks lightly, but this unruly man refuses to speak."
Zhu Youxiao did not express his position, but looked at his younger brother Zhu Youjian.
Zhu Youjian nodded and said: "Brother Emperor, I think it's better to send these two unruly people to prison first."
"Well, don't go to the prison. Ma Aiqing, these two people are left to you."
Ma Xiaoquan was overjoyed and quickly knelt down respectfully and said: "Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty! I will definitely live up to the Emperor's orders and get to the bottom of the matter!"
"Well, okay" Zhu Youxiao nodded.
Seeing that the emperor had given Ma Xiaoquan the task of interrogating the Zhang brothers and sisters, Lu Zhan said quickly: "Your Majesty, interrogating prisoners is a matter for the Ministry of Punishment. In my opinion, this matter should be handled by the Ministry of Punishment to which I belong."
Ma Xiaoquan snorted coldly and said, "Mr. Lu, is it you who will be interrogated by the Criminal Department or you? Could it be that you have a guilty conscience and are afraid that the brother and sister will say something detrimental to you?"
"Ma Xiaoquan, you are so presumptuous!"
Ma Xiaoquan chuckled: "I still put five, what's wrong? One of you on the left is spitting blood, and the other on the right is unruly, which makes me more and more think that you have something that you haven't said to the emperor." Ma Xiaoquan was half-kneeling on the ground anyway, and said to Zhu
According to the school's instructions, "Your Majesty, I must confirm that your Majesty has made clear his responsibilities."
Zhu Youxiao nodded without thinking: "Lu Zhan, you have been a minister for many years, right?"
"Replying to the emperor, today is exactly twenty-three years," Lu Zhan said respectfully.
"Well, I have been an official for twenty years, but now I have lost my mind. This woman named Zhang Jing is your granddaughter-in-law, but you actually said that someone slandered you? Your father-in-law is not very honest, Lu Zhan,
Are you getting more and more confused as you become an official? If not, how about you take off your hat and go home to farm now?"
Lu Zhan was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Zhu Youxiao: "Your Majesty, I am loyal to your Majesty and to the court. Your Majesty, what I said to you is absolutely not a lie."
Zhu Youxiao said impatiently: "Since you think you are not wrong, stop talking nonsense. I have made up my mind. I will leave this matter to Ma Aiqing!"
"Yes" Lu Zhan lowered his head reluctantly and said respectfully.
Ma Xiaoquan stepped forward, patted Lu Zhan on the shoulder, and whispered: "Mr. Lu, don't worry, I will get to the bottom of this matter and give you an answer, okay?"
"Ma Xiaoquan, you." Lu Zhan raised his head and glared at Ma Xiaoquan fiercely, "I and I are incompatible with each other. No, my Lu family and your Ma family will fight to the death!"
Ma Xiaoquan's lips curled up: "Master Lu, more than a thousand years ago, your Lu family was destroyed once by the head of the Ma family, er, also called Ma Xiaoquan. Why, you still want to be destroyed again, um, I
I see you have this intention.”
"You, you, you" Lu Zhan was so angry that he couldn't speak.